Beauty Insider: Laura Mercier

Over the past 25 years, the makeup maestro has seen a lot of looks come and go. Here, the secrets to her own timeless technique.

In 1985, Laura Mercier was a fledgling makeup artist working in Paris with French ELLE when she was invited to join the team that launched ELLE in America. "It was so exciting!" she recalls. "We'd fly to New York for weeks at a time to test models, trying to find the perfect mix for the magazine, which was all about celebrating individuality." In keeping with ELLE's breath-of-fresh-air aesthetic, Mercier found herself working on a lot of outdoor shoots—a challenge she credits with helping her develop her now famous "flawless skin technique." "There wasn't much photo retouching in those days," she says, "so the models' skin had to look completely perfect while also looking natural and not too made up." Since then she's been unstoppable, developing her own wildly popular makeup line and working with the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts, and Madonna, who has called her "the Rembrandt of makeup artists." "I love to show women how to celebrate their skin," Mercier says. "I believe anyone can look vibrant and luminous."

What's been the biggest change in makeup since you first started out?
Foundation has evolved tremendously. The foundation that was available in the '80s was very pink—I had to add yellow pigment so that it would look like real skin.

How do you define the modern face?
Polished, glowing skin that isn't deadly matte. It's also about being on trend without looking trendy—just going with what suits you. For instance, if there's a purple craze and purple doesn't look good on you, try a grayish mauve instead. Adapt the trend to suit your face shape and skin tone. That's what's most modern: sticking to your personality, no matter what.

What are the essential tools to achieve flawless skin?
You need to have both camouflage and concealer, which are separate things. Concealer should be creamy and hydrating and only used under the eyes, where the skin is thin and fragile. You should never put concealer on a pimple because it's too emollient and will just slide off. A camouflage is like a concealer but thicker and more saturated, and it should be noncomedogenic. It's good for pimples, rosacea, broken capillaries, and sun spots. It's better to apply both with a brush rather than your finger—you can push the pigment into the skin precisely where you need it so it will disappear and look natural.

You're known for your "tight eyeliner" trick. What's the best way to do it at home?
The idea is to apply eyeliner at the roots of the lashes so that the line will be more contrasty with the white of the eye and iris. If you just draw a line on top of the lashes, you'll leave a space that diminishes contrast with your eyeball. Apply a smudgeproof cake or pencil liner to the waterline under the lashes from below, start above the pupil, and then going left and right—otherwise you'll get too much in one corner. You also want the color concentrated in the center because it makes the iris stand out. You're basically contouring the eyes, making them look bigger and whiter while also making it look like you have a lot of dark lashes. From there, you can do more—thicken the line on top, add eye shadow, create a smoky effect, whatever you like. Don't use it on the bottom, though—too much eyeliner there can make the eye look heavy and sad, whereas wearing it on the top is always going to lift your eye up.

What makeup look has best stood the test of time?
I think eyeliner is timeless and trendless because it can be used as a tool to change the shape of the eye—a short, thick line can widen the eye; a long, winged line can give you a sexy retro effect. And I think red lipstick can be worn very elegantly, even on a bare face. It doesn't have to mean you're trying to seduce someone. It just looks happy. When you wear it, your face wakes up.

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